Railroad crossing



July 13, 1937.

E. sHEEl-IAN RAILROAD CROSSING 2 sheets-het 1 `Fi1ed Aug. 26, 195e INVENTOR.l R EHEEHHN.

a 1f" l ATTORNEYS.

Enma

l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 13, 1937. E. sHEEHAN RAILROAD CROSSING Filed Aug. 26, 1936 Patented July 13, 1937 Uni-'rap stares cargar orties RAELROAD CROSSENG Edward Sheehan, San Francisco, Calif. application August 26, 1936, serial No. 98,001

3 Claims. (Cl. 246-273) This invention relates to improvements in railroad crossings andhas particular reference to means for eliminating noise and jar during the action of a car 'passing over the crossing.

A further object is to produce a device of this character which may be applied to any railroad crossing with a minimum amount of expense.

A further object is to produce a device ofthis character wherein the wheels of the vehicle Will have a broad bearing upon the face thereof which will be ample to carry the load, in counter-distinc tion to certain types of crossings, wherein the i load is carried upon the flange of the Wheel.

A further object is to= produce a device of this character which is automatic in its operation, irrespective of whichdirection the vehicle is moving over the crossing. l.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and .in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Fig. 1 is a top plan View of my improved crossing, having a portion thereof broken away;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional View taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional View taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, which is at right angles to that of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. l; y

Fig. 5 is a top plan View of the actuating cam; and

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 5 6 of Fig. 5 and looking in the direction of the arrow.

The ordinary railroad crossing permits flanged wheels to pass over rails angularly disposed with relation tc the rails upon which the wheels are travelling. Up to the present time, it has been customary practice, as far as applicant is aware,

to provide a groove through the rail being crossed to accommodate for the flange of the wheel. This construction means that not only will there be a groove through which the flange of the wheel must pass, but there will also be a groove in the rail upon which the wheel is travelling. Consequently, as the wheel travels over this groove, there will be a pounding action, which is of considerable force, particularly when the vehicle upon which the wheel is mounted exerts heavy downward pressure. The result of keeping up crossings is very high as a result of this pounding action; and, therefore, I believe that with the improvement of my device, this pounding action may be eliminated, thus saving excess cost of repairs, the cost of the jar on the rolling stock, and also eliminating the noise which is very objectionable, particularly in buildings close to` the 5 crossing.

In the accompanying drawings wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred em'- bodiment of my invention, the numerals 5 and e may be said to represent the east-west bound 10 tracks, while the numerals 'l and 8 may be said to represent the north-south bound tracks; and in the particular illustration of Fig. 1, these tracks are crossing each other at an angle of I propose to employ a bed plate 9, which may be 15 supported in any convenient manner, as by a supporting girder construction ll.

Referring now to Fig. l, it will be noted that the rails 5 and 'l approach each other at right angles, and their ends are so sawed as to present a 45 surface i2. As the construction and operation of each one of the four corners of the crossing is exactly the same, further discussion will be confined to the corner toward the left of the drawing. Mounted upon the bed plate 9 are rocker arms i3 and lil. These rocker arms are pivoted as at I6 and extend diagonally so that their ends are adjacent the diagonally positioned corners. Pivotally secured to each end of each arm is a cam member Il, upon which are formed cams I9 and 2l, the top of this cam member loeing flat, as shown at 22, the purpose of which will be later seen. At 23 I have shown a supporting member secured to the plate 9 and to which are pivoted, as at 26 and 2l, pivoted rail sections 35 28 and 29 respectively. The ends of these rail sections 28 and 29 are bevelled, as shown at 3l and each rail section has its ends cut at an angle of 45 in each direction, so'as to form a 90 angular point. The bevelled portion 3l rests upon the cam surface 2i when the cam members ll are in the position of Fig. 2 and rests upon the top of the cam members when the cams are in the position of Fig. 3. It is, of course, understood that similar pivoted rail sections 28 and 29 extend between the other breaks in the rails t, l, and 8, and the end of each of these other pivoted rail sections overlies its respective cam members. At 32 I have Vshown a power lever pivoted to the rail l and having its free end in contact with one 50 of the cam surfaces, for instance, the cam surface 2l of the cam member Il. A similar power lever is shown at 33, the same being pivoted to the rail 5 and having its free end overlying the cam surface I9 of the same cam member I'I, it

being understood that there are two of these power levers adjacent each angle of the crossing.

The result of this construction is that assum- A ing a train is proceeding from the north over the rails I and 8, the flanges of the wheels will engage the power levers 32 and 33, pivoting the free ends downwardly against the cams I1,

mounted on the rocker arms I3 and M. Imme- 1 diately, these cams will be moved to the full lineV positionof Fig. 1, v,forcing the cam member I1 to raise the pivoted sections 28 and V2S! in the north-south bound track; and as the fiat surface 22 and the cam surface 2l have passed from beneath the pivoted sections of the east-West rails, these sections will drop, as illustrated in Fig. 2, vleaving a gap through which the flanges of the vwheels may pass. Therefore, the wheels, in passving over the crossing, will be supported by a continuous rail surface, thus eliminating the jar and resultant damage above referred to.

It is,'of course, obvious that a train passing from'east or west, or vice versa will rst engage its respective power levers, and the action will be identical, with the exception that the rocker arms will move in the opposite direction3so that the cams will raise and support the east-West pivoted sections and release the north-south piv-u Voted sections.

1. In a railroad crossing of the character described, pivoted crossing sections forming continuations of the crossing rails, a pair of diagonally disposed rocker arms pivotally secured in said crossing, cam blocks carried by the ends of said rocker arms and underlying said pivoted rail sections, and pivoted power levers contacting said cams, whereby said power levers will actuate said cams when contacted by the flanges of Wheels passing over said rails.

2. In a railroad crossing of the character described, pivoted crossing sections forming continuations of the crossing rails, a pair of diagonally disposed rocker arms pivotally secured in said crossing, cam blocks carried by the ends of said rocker arms and underlying said pivoted rail sections, and pivoted power levers contacting said cams, whereby said power levers will actuate said cams when contacted by the flanges of Wheels passing over said rails, said power levers moving said cams from a point beneath the pivoted rail sections of said crossing extending in one direction to a point beneath the pivoted rail sections extending in another direction.

3. In a railroad crossing comprising parallel rails intersecting similar parallel rails, Vsaid rails having their meeting ends angularly cut, p-ivoted rail sections continuing said rails between the meeting ends, cam members disposed beneath the free e-nds of said pivoted members, said cam members being secured to rocker arms, and means for moving said rocker arms simultaneously by a train approaching said crossing so as to support the pivoted rail sections over which said train-is to pass.

`EDWARD SHEEHAN. 

